


Memento Mori

by Mecha_Maid



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Post Game, spoilers for the end of Awakening
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 03:47:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10801059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mecha_Maid/pseuds/Mecha_Maid
Summary: There were not many things that Lucina did not have, and one of them was a mother.





	Memento Mori

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Mother's Day, everyone! :)))  
> This fic is greatly inspired by [Through Eyes of Sapphire](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7201622) by KnightofIris, please go check it out!!

There were not many things that Lucina did not have. She was the crown princess of Ylisse, and her father, Chrom's, entire world. All she had to do was ask, and whatever she had requested would soon be in her hands. So, she was surrounded by so many material things, things that most young girls her age could only dream of. Pretty dresses, sparkling jewelry, fun little toys.

Still, Lucina could not help but feel the sharpest twinge of envy, when she watched Aunty Lissa gather her son, Owain, into her arms.

Yes, Aunt Lissa gave her just as many hugs and kisses, but it was not Aunt Lissa's attention that Lucina was envious of.

There were not many things that Lucina did not have, and one of them was a mother.

She _had_ one, and she did know what the woman looked like.

In the palace's grand library there was a painting. It was a modestly-sized portrait surrounded on all sides by walls of books, in the farthest corner of the room, so that it watched over an alcove created by the shelves.

Some days Lucina would find her father underneath that painting of the Queen, sitting in an arm chair positioned right below it so he could look up at her mother to see her smiling benevolently down upon him. Lucina would crawl into his lap, he would wrap his strong arms around her, and they would observe the painting together, at least until she would eventually doze off against him.

Her mother was so pretty, the girl would think when she managed to stay awake long enough, absorbing every carefully painted detail of the woman's face. Her hair was such a pale blonde that it looked almost silver, complimenting her fair skin tone. Both were characteristics of her homeland, the neighboring kingdom of Plegia. Her eyes were almond shaped, the most warm color of amber, and striking compared to her pale complexion. Her smile, which the painter had captured perfectly in Lucina's opinion, was benign as well as knowing.

The entire portrait gave off a motherly vibe, and gazing at it long enough, Lucina could almost imagine that it was the Queen's arms around her instead of Chrom's.

Looking at that painting, Lucina could also tell just how little she resembled her mother. She was nearly the spitting image of her father, with their cobalt hair and dark blue eyes.

Physically, Lucina had nothing of her mother. All she had were vague memories and an image.

Her mother had disappeared far too early in her life for Lucina to be able to create any concrete memories of her. By this point, at 6 years old, they were only sensations. The most vivid of these was a pleasant, safe feeling of her being pressed into a woman's breast and lulled to sleep by a steady heart beat.

Some nights Lucina would slip from her far too big double bed covered in silk sheets and a mountain of pillows to her father's bedroom. He always laid on the left side, the right was bare. She would burrow her way in with him, wriggling into his arms and pressing her cheek against his rising and falling chest, trying to recreate that feeling somehow.

It was never the same. Lucina loved her father dearly, but it was not the same.

Lucina missed her mother, yet she hardly even remembered her at all.

* * *

"Why did Mother leave? Didn't she love us?" Lucina asked her father one afternoon, as he led her through the flourishing palace gardens by hand.

As soon as the words left her mouth, Chrom stopped, his fingers tightening around Lucina's tiny hand. When she tilted her head to peer up at him, the girl saw that he was frowning.

"W-what?" He stuttered at first, then shook his head. "Of course she loved us," Chrom told her, and his expression softening when she met his eyes. "She... left, _because_ she loved us, because she loved _you_ , Lucina."

Left. It was always "left". Chrom would never say aloud that her mother had died. Even as a child, Lucina knew that people died. She was not sure whether her father was sparing her feelings, or Mother was actually still alive. Lucina almost hoped that her mother _was_ dead, because if she was alive, and she had chosen to _not_ be with Lucina right now... that stung more than having the closure of her death.

 _She left because she loved me._ That didn't make any sense to Lucina. She missed her mother, and she wanted her here with her. Why would her mother stay away? Had she done something wrong?

"But.. why?" She choked out, endlessly frustrated with her mother's absence.

Chrom appeared slightly shocked with her sudden bad mood. Sometimes her father forgot that underneath her mature and calm disposition, she was still a child.

He let go of her hand, which she had curled into a fist, and crouched to be eye-level with her. Lucina faced her father, and was momentarily surprised when he raised his fingers to gently wipe away the wetness from the corner of her left eye. She had not realized that she had begun to cry.

"Listen, my little light," He began, his tone deep and soothing as he placed his hands upon her little shoulders. "Your mother... she saved us. She left to ensure the future, everyone's future, and most importantly, your future." His spoke fondly and wistfully, his eyes peering somewhere past Lucina, perhaps into memories of Mother.

The way he talked about her, Lucina could tell just how much her father had loved her mother. She must have been an amazing person, to lighten Chrom's eyes up like that. Lucina wished she could have known her.

Lucina tried not to sniffle, knowing how miserable that would make her look.

"So she was a hero?" She managed to get out, her voice breaking because of her welling tears.

"Yes," Chrom nodded, smiling, "She was." He finished, then hooking his hands underneath her arms, her father gathered her in his arms. Lucina buried her face into his chest, crying quietly the entire walk back to the palace.

* * *

A year passed. Lucina's desire to see her mother had faded, but it was never forgotten completely.

She had new playmates now, besides her very eccentric younger cousin Owain, so she was less lonely.

Severa was kind of prickly, but she shared Lucina's love for mock sword-fights with tree branches, and she was very useful for knocking Owain down a few pegs when he got too whimsical.

Inigo was a hopeless and relentless flirt, but he was also a fantastic dancer just like his mother. He got flustered whenever anybody watched though, so Lucina had to spy on him to get a glimpse of his elegant footwork.

Owain was the same level of weird as he'd always been, but now he had Cynthia to project that energy onto instead of Lucina. The two of them started something called the "Justice Cabal", which Lucina made no effort to understand. Half of what came out of their mouths was nonsense, anyways.

Lucina was an unfortunate participant in their latest game, when her father came to her rescue.

"Lucina?" He called to her from the vine-covered gates of the palace garden, wearing an amused smile as he watched Severa chase a screaming Cynthia with a stick.

"Hark! The mighty King Uncle Chrom doth approach!" Owain yelled on Lucina's right while striking a pose, his hand splayed over half of his face.

Cynthia said nothing as her father approached them; she had been defeated by the evil queen (Severa), and was currently laying face down in the grass with her arms spread out to her sides.

Chrom gave her a glance when he passed, and chuckled softly. "Am I interrupting something?" He asked.

"No-" Lucina began exasperatedly, but was cut off by Owain's shout.

"I was just about to save the Princess from the evil queen's wicked plot with my Trusty Sword Hand!" Her cousin declared proudly, raising said hand over his head. Seconds later, he fake-winced, doubling over. "Oh no! It's.. hunger.. too.. strong! I can't control it!"

Lucina sighed when her cousin collapsed to the ground, growling under his breath about the evil queen and clutching his Sword Hand.

The only "wicked" thing Severa had even done today was punch Inigo unconscious when he wouldn't stop flirting terribly with her. He was laying at her feet right now, but Chrom probably thought he was just playing dead like Cynthia was.

"Were you, now?" Chrom replied, one of his eyebrows raised. He looked at Lucina, his smile more of a smirk now.

"I think _I'll_ be the one rescuing the Princess today, if you don't mind," He offered his hand to her, and Lucina eagerly took it. "We have somewhere to go." He said with a twinkle in his blue eyes, and Lucina brightened.

"Really? Where are we going?" She gushed as her father led her away from her friends, bouncing on her heels with each step.

Was he finally going to teach her real sword-fighting? Or maybe he was bringing her to the market, or maybe they were going to visit the Khans in Ferox!

"You'll see." Was all Chrom said cryptically, squeezing her hand in his.

At the entrance of the garden Aunt Lissa and Uncle Frederick, her father's Knight, were waiting for them. They mounted horses, Frederick on his armored mare, Lissa on a chesnut-colored one, and she and her father climbing onto the back of his magnificent white stallion.

They started down the polished cobblestone road that melted into a simple dirt path the further they traveled from Ylisstol. They ventured into the vast plains, leaving the roads behind to walk over mounds of grass that flowed in waves.

It was almost evening, the sky was a soft orange and the sun sinking below the hills, when Lucina began to feel restless. The wind cooling her and buffeting her cobalt hair, she peered over her father's arm and into the endless distance.

She still didn't know what they were doing here. Was her father just taking her for a horseback ride? Why were Aunt Lissa and Frederick here, then? Usually they did these types of things alone.

Aunt Lissa suddenly gasped.

"Chrom! Look!" She all but shrieked, and Lucina was jerked in the saddle when her father just as abruptly yanked on their horse's reins. The animal snorted in protest, coming to a stop, armor clanking when Frederick did the same to his mount.

Lucina whirled her head around to look to her Aunty, and found her off to the right, her arm extended to point toward a lone tree all by itself in the expanse of the plains.

In the shadow of that tree, it looked like there was a person, just laying there to doze in the shade.

"By the Gods..." Frederick gasped.

Chrom released a strangled breath, and Lucina felt his chest tighten against her back. Almost in a frenzy, her father readjusted his hold on the reins and dug his heels into the stallion's sides. The horse started forward in a trot, kicking up mounds of dirt and clumps of grass.

Very confused, Lucina tried to twist around to get a glimpse at him, but her eyes fell onto Aunt Lissa on the way. Tears were streaming down her Aunty's face... but she was smiling, smiling as she hiccuped into her palm and used her other hand to wipe furiously at her eyes.

What in the world was going on?

The girl looked back to the tree when she felt the horse stop, and her father hopped off of the saddle too quickly for her to protest. He fell to his knees at the mystery person's side, who, now that she was close enough, Lucina could tell was a woman.

A very... familiar woman.

Lucina thought she was dreaming at first, when her eyes fell upon the person. Silvery hair, pale skin...

Hands clasped across her stomach, and the most serene expression on her face, her mother lay in the grass on her back, sleeping peacefully.

Not a painting. This was not a painting, it was the real thing.

 _Mom._ It echoed in her mind powerfully, and in a daze, Lucina watched from the saddle as Aunt Lissa joined her father at the Queen's side, leaning over her. Chrom used his bare forearm to wipe at his face, and he laughed shakily.

The whistle of the wind ringing in her ears, Lucina barely felt Frederick's hands on her, lifting her from the horse's back and setting her to the ground on her feet.

Her mother was stirring.

Chrom raised himself to kneel on one knee, Aunt Lissa hovering opposite of him.

Her mother's lashes fluttered, eyes half-lidded as when she finally opened them. They were hazy, and the woman's lips pursed with confusion as she blinked several times to break out of her stupor.

"Hey.." Aunt Lissa greeted faintly, sounding like she was on the verge of tears, which she probably was.

Her mother's face then flashed with recognition, when her eyes shifted from Lissa to Chrom.

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know." Chrom told her, slowly extending his open hand to the woman.

"Chrom..." Her mother whispered, and Lucina promptly let the barely audible words sink into her brain. It was the first time she had heard her mother's voice, the first time she could remember hearing it, anyways.

Her mother intertwined her fingers with her father's, but she gazed intently at the bare skin on the back of her right hand.

"Welcome back, Robin." Chrom murmured, and the woman languidly lifted her eyes to him. She seemed to melt then, her entire body slumping with visible relief. She did not protest when Chrom placed his hand over the back of her neck, and pulled her lips toward his.

When they broke apart, Lucina was suddenly aware of the fact that she was clinging to Frederick's armored leg like it was a life-line, because her little fingers dug into the shiny metal when Robin's gaze looked past Chrom's shoulder, and fell on her.

"Lucina.." Her mother spoke in that saccharine voice, untangling herself from Chrom. "My little Lucina," Robin stepped in her direction, and barely conscious of it, Lucina unhanded Frederick and did the same.

When there was barely a foot between them, the girl threw herself forward, into the awaiting arms of her mother.


End file.
